Improvement in seal-locks



UNITED STATES PATENT Drrxcn.

JAMES H. OLIVER, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEAL-LOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 150,182, dated April 2 8, 1874; application filed October 7, 1873.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES H. OLIVER, of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented certain Improvements in Seal-Locks, of which the following is a specification:

My invention relates to the canceling or destroying of a seal or seal-paper, or other destructible material, used for the purpose of detecting the interference of unauthorized persons with a lock, or any attempt at tampering with the same.

The withdrawal of the hasp by whichthe locking is effected, whether accomplished in the unlocking process by means of the key, or by forcible extraction, will cause the complete cancellation of the seal, or the nearly total destruction of the paper upon which it is impressed. This is done by a revolving cylinder provided with a series of teeth, or a series of toothed wheels fastened together upon the same axis, attached to a pawl, which is actuated by the movement of the hasp, so as to descend upon the seal-paper and cut, puncture, or tear it, and render its mutilation complete.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a top view of the hasp; Fig. 2, that portion of the look into which it slides; Fig. 5, a side inner view of the same portion of the lock with the hasp in place and locked; Fig. 4, a detached View of the pawl and toothed cylinder; Fig. 5, a plan view of the cylinder and pawl; Fig. 6, a plan view of the lock with cover removed; Fig. 7, an under-side view of the hasp; Fig. 8, the upper side of the same, with attached ring and staple.

A is the hasp; B, the bolt; 0, the cavity, into which the hasp slides in looking; D, the cavity in, which the pawl and cylinder are placed; E, the key when in place; F, the plate attached to the hasp; a a a, perforations in the plate F, into which the teeth I) b of the cylinder pass when the pawl c is moved or revolved toward the plate; (I (1, two springs, between which the pawl oscillates; e, a springplate, under which one end of the seal-paper is placed, serving to keep it in position; f f, the two extremities of the pawl playing into .the slots or cavities g g of the plate F. It is the pivot on which the pawl turns; i, the glass plate, through which the seal is visible. k k are flanges, forming a groove, 1, on each side of the plate F, into which the edges of the seal-paper are introduced to fasten it in place, while its end is secured under the springplate 0.

When the seal-paper is placed in position, as described, being previously prepared of the proper width, the hasp is made to enter the lock, and the pawl and cylinder are carried forward and upward into the cavity D by means of the ends f f, which ride upon the flanges k 70, until the slots g g are brought under them. The bolt B, having been forced back by the entrance of the hasp, now springs to its former position, and the locking is completed. The seal-paper is now under the glass plate 1', in full view.

When the hasp is released by the action of the key, or drawn out in any other manner, the ends ff of the pawl 0, being in the slots 1 g, are moved outwardly with it, and carry the attached cylinder backward and downward, bringing the points or edges of the teeth I) b upon the face of the seal, and punching out a series of holes corresponding to the perforations in the plate F as the cylinder revolves during the outward movement of the hasp.

The mutilated seal may now be removed, and

a fresh one put in its place.

Having thus described my invention, I

JAS. H. OLIVER. [L. 8.]

Witnesses:

' JAMES S. GRINNELL,

Tnos. .TnwELL. 

